Learning Cubes

Birds & Their Babies. Did You Know?

1. If you find a baby bird – please gently pick up the baby bird, look for the nest (it shouldn’t be that far away) and place it back in.
2. A mother bird can’t smell you on the baby. She doesn’t care, all she cares about is her baby

General Facts About Our Environment. Did You Know?

1. If you have accumulated a “burn pile” last fall, please be careful before you burn. Animals may have used your pile as their home during the winter, and in the early spring, used it to provide a warm comfortable nest for their babies.
2. Plastics can take up to 1,000 years to decompose, and some plastics NEVER decompose.
3. Plastic bags and garbage have become a huge concern for wildlife on land and in the water.
4. Let’s work together toward a plastic free world.

Rabbits. Did You Know?

A baby rabbit is called a kit, a female is called a doe, and a male is a buck. A group of rabbits is called a herd. Rabbits eat a diet entirely of grasses and other plants.

Your Pets. Did You Know?

Adopting a pet is a full time commitment that spans the lifetime of the animal. So often animals are gifted at Christmastime, or at Easter, only for the animal to be dropped off at a shelter. Here are some tips to help you decide if you are ready to adopt an animal.

1. Do you know what it costs to adopt an animal?
2. Do you have enough time and money to commit to the animal’s care?
3. Is there a chance you will move or change jobs?
4. Are some of your family or friends allergic?
5. Are you ready to be selfless and patient with the animal?

Did You Know? Bears and Raccoons are NOT related?

Once thought to be a member of the bear family, the raccoon (scientific name: Procyon lotor) is classified as a Procyonidae. They are also members of the Carnivora group and are distinguished by their small size and the fact that they are omnivorous, meaning that they eat both plants and meat.

Do you see where we get the name for our Wildlife Centre?

Skunks. Did You Know?

1. Skunks are good to have around since they eat whatever they can scrounge such as plant materials, wild fruits and mice.
2. They also consume bugs and parasites that can infect crops.
3. They only spray when they are scared, so keep your dog on a leash to avoid accidental spraying!
4. Skunks will stamp their feet, raise their tails and hunch their backs when they feel threatened, and can accurately spray the foul smelling fluid up to ten feet.
5. Live and let live!

1. When swimming, beavers use their webbed feet as paddles and flat tails as a rudder.
2. To waterproof themselves, beavers rub castor oil, produced from a gland near their tail, through their fur using their split toenail (grooming claw).
3. Beavers remain active throughout winter and can swim and forage under the ice.
4. Beavers can swim at speeds of up to eight kilometres per hour.
5. Beavers are herbivores. Their main food source includes tree bark and cambium, the thin layer of tissue that grows just under the tree’s bark.
6. A beaver’s incisors (teeth) continue growing throughout its life.
7. Beavers are mainly active at night.

How Beavers Build Dams: Watch this YouTube Video by PBS

1. Beavers are one of only a few mammals capable of re-engineering the landscape.
2. Beavers construct their lodges, which can only be accessed through underwater entrances, in ponds, along river edges or in the shallow bays of lakes.
3. A beaver colony consists of two parents, young kits and yearlings born the previous spring, all under one roof.